Back To Back
Summary: Virgil is not the type that enjoys sitting idly by when someone else, especially a member of his family, is in pain. Not when he could be finding a solution to their suffering.
Ironically, for once, sitting idly is actually the solution.
Notes: a short oneshot to get me in the groove of writing thunderbirds, featuring me projecting my back pain onto gordon. sorry gordo
────────────────────────────────────────
Virgil takes a deep but slow breath in, filling his lungs with air that he would not readily describe as fresh; No, not with all the dust and dirt particles still floating about, and which, should he rub the pads of his fingers together or simply brush them on the surface he’s sitting upon, are coating just about every surface in the space they currently inhabit. Regardless, he is still immensely grateful that there is any air to breathe at all, considering the formerly mentioned space in question to be a small hole in a recently collapsed mineshaft that has been, from what attempts were made to escape it, thoroughly plugged shut.
As for the aforementioned “they”, he is not alone, a fact he is immediately reminded of upon hearing a small, sharp exhale and the faint shuffling of a person beside him. Specifically, Gordon is with him, whose presence simultaneously soothes, worries, and vexes him all at once.
In order, Virgil is soothed by the fact that he is not alone in this unfortunate situation. An emergency call had come forth from the Nevada desert by a mining operation foreman who reported unusual seismic activity in the area that resulted in a cave-in, trapping three men underground with no idea of when the next earthquake might strike. A fairly bogstandard rescue operation, all things considered. Scott stayed topside with a map in hand and the foreman’s advice on where best to tunnel into the mineshaft while Gordon joined Virgil in the Mole to retrieve the workers.
At least, the first two had been such, a pair of well-built men, one with a leg pinned underneath rubble that took Gordon and Virgil lifting together to free him. They brought the pair of them topside straight away so that the injured man could receive medical care as soon as possible, given his condition. From there, they burrowed back underground at the insistence of both the workers and the foreman, who were under the impression they’d seen someone sneak into the tunnels just before the collapse.
In hindsight, perhaps that should’ve been the red flag that turned them away from heading back under. However, even if they had even the slightest clue of what happened next, they likely still would have done it. No situation is too dangerous for International Rescue to turn away if it means an unnecessary, preventable death occurs.
It’s just a shame that the whole thing turned out to be sabotage, rather than the freak natural disaster everyone assumed it to be. Virgil and Gordon got clear of the explosive charge without an issue, but the resulting rumbling and the ground splitting beneath their feet had been unavoidable.
Which brings Virgil to the reason for his worries. He’d rather not be here, obviously, as any rational person would, but he would especially prefer that his younger brother also would not be here. It’s bad enough being trapped down here, which is made only worse knowing that if anything else goes wrong, someone he cares about may not make it out unscathed, nevermind his own possible injuries.
This is made all the worse by the fact that they have been here for what Virgil assumes has been the better part of two hours, should the clock function of their wristwatches still be working properly. What isn’t working properly is the communication feature of said watches, which has remained woefully silent, likely a result of either the battering they took from the falling rocks or the depths they’ve fallen to preventing any radiowaves from reaching them. At the very least, they’ve been able to provide some dim light in this otherwise pitch black hole.
It’s understandable why they’ve been down here so long. The Mole had likely been buried right alongside them, making any plan of burrowing to them impossible, and should the explosion have worsened the already fragile state of the mineshaft, extreme caution would be needed in moving forward to rescue both him and Gordon. This rational train of thought is what Virgil has been holding onto, using it to reassure himself that it is simply a matter of when Scott and whoever else’s help he’s enlisted will reach them, not if.
And lastly, Gordon’s presence vexes Virgil for one reason: Despite the fact they have such limited space, Gordon simply will not stop moving.
Virgil has reminded him on more than one occasion at this point that his squirming is simply wasting energy, and that he ought to remain put, especially given how cramped the area is. Upon every reminder, Gordon has given him a curt acknowledgement, stayed still for a few minutes, and then gone right back to shifting, crouching, half-standing, stretching somewhat, all manner of moving about.
It hadn’t been this bad at first, when after they confirmed they couldn’t escape on their own but wouldn’t die of oxygen deprivation, they’d sat down and waited. But as the minutes crept on longer and longer, stretching into an hour, Gordon began getting more restless. From there, the fidgeting only grew in intensity.
About half an hour ago is when the noises began, as well. Another one escapes the aquanaut, a quiet huff through his nose, and not for the first time, Virgil can’t help but be struck by the familiarity of it. For some reason unbeknownst to him, that tiny, involuntary sound is stirring faint memories in the back of Virgil’s mind, ones that remain out of reach in the face of the harsh reality before him.
It’s when Gordon moves to stand again, or rather, lean against the stone walls of the hole, his boot accidentally nudging one of the two wristwatches laid on the ground to act as their lightsource, that Virgil finally decides enough is enough.
“For goodness’ sake, Gordon, what are you doing?”
“What?” Gordon replies in a tone that Virgil is certain was meant to sound casual, but the underlying edge to it makes it read as defensive.
“You know what. Can’t you just sit down already? You’ll tire yourself out.”
“It’s fine. I need something to do while we wait.”
Virgil frowns. While Gordon isn’t exactly the most patient person he knows, his reply registers as being odd to him. His second youngest brother is no stranger to taking it easy, being just as willing to kick back in the living room as he is to bound about their island home. No, this is certainly something else, and a single stolen glance at Gordon’s tight expression being briefly illuminated by the watches gives him the hint he’d needed.
“Are you hurt?”
At this, Gordon finally stills. It does not last long, though, with him soon sinking to his feet and resting his behind on his heels.
“I’m– Fine.”
The sentence is broken up by yet another breath, this one accompanied by a near imperceptible noise made at the back of Gordon’s throat, and finally, it hits him. He’s heard Gordon making these exact sorts of sounds before, and he knows why. Virgil’s eyes widen.
“Your back. It’s bothering you, isn’t it?”
It feels so obvious now that he’s said it out loud. Lifting those heavy rocks earlier, even with perfect form, must’ve stirred his old injury into rearing its ugly head. That, paired with the tumble they took earlier and the stones they’d been pelted with, is a recipe for hurt.
Sure enough, he hears Gordon click his tongue more than he sees it, followed by the other lightly dashing his hand against his own leg.
“It’s not just bothering, it’s killing me,” Gordon admits, now allowing some of the pain he’s been feeling to creep into his voice, though it is soon overridden by annoyance. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I could relax it, but I can’t get comfortable in here! It’s too cramped!”
So that explains all of the writhing about his brother has been doing. In an effort to assuage his aching back, he’s been contorting himself to find a position that will relieve it, to no avail. Virgil frowns. They have no reference of how much longer it will take for them to be rescued, but the last thing he wants to do is leave Gordon to continue suffering needlessly, even if they are going to be saved relatively soon.
Looking around, he decides to once again take stock of the space they’ve found themselves in. The hole is small and circular, with the ground being just flat enough to sit on without sliding about. There isn’t enough room for either of them to stand at full height, and the hole they’d fallen through just above them has been shut by a bunch of larger rocks and debris having landed on top of it. As of right now, Virgil is sitting on what has been deemed his half of the space, while Gordon is on his own half, meaning neither of them are occupying the area directly in the middle, which would allow for the most amount of leg room.
However, simply handing over that spot to Gordon won’t immediately fix the issue. Not only will Virgil then be pressed uncomfortably against the side of the hole, Gordon himself would probably still find it dissatisfying, since he won’t have anything to brace his back against at an angle. No, he would simply be resting the upper half of his torso against the flat stone wall, leaving his lower back to sag and become further agitated. There isn’t anything here for him to rest upon, though, not without sitting ramrod straight against the wall.
His train of thought suddenly veers off course, a lightbulb going off in his head. Of course, that’s it! He has the solution. Granted, it’s a terribly awkward one, but in their line of work, awkward is always preferable when compared to injury. “In that case, I think I might have an idea on how to help,” Virgil offers.
“Really?” Gordon asks in return, sounding hopeful at the prospect.
Virgil nods, then remembers to make a noise of affirmation along with it, in case Gordon missed the action due to the darkness.
“Here, move one of the watches onto your side and I’ll move it on mine. Then, scooch over.”
It takes a moment for Gordon to comply, most likely trying to puzzle out what exactly it is Virgil is doing, but he follows through nonetheless. Once he’s made some space, Virgil moves into the middle, sitting against one of the walls and bending his knees out as far as they’ll manage before spreading his legs a good distance.
“Alright, now do your best to climb over me, slowly.”
Apparently, this is where Gordon realizes what it is he’s up to, if the stunned blink Virgil catches sight of is any indication. A short, disbelieving laugh bubbles up out of his brother, followed by a pause before he carefully clambers over Virgil and into the center.
After a moment of hesitation, Gordon reclines, resting his upper half against Virgil’s, effectively using him as a backrest. If he had to guess based on the disgruntled yet relieved sigh his brother lets out, the effect is an immediate success. Still, it’s never good to leave things to a guess with injuries, so he decides to ask.
“So, is that better?”
“A little,” The aquanaut grumbles, then goes on to elaborate with less edge to his voice. “It’s more of a dull ache now. Definitely an improvement, though.”
“What was it feeling like before, then?”
Gordon shifts somewhat at this, his shoulders tensing before relaxing once more.
“It felt hot, still does, and like something was pinching me. Occasionally I’d feel a shudder as well, but only in that one spot.”
At this, Virgil’s frown returns, his eyebrows set in place.
“Your muscles were spasming?”
“Maybe. It was always too short to tell.”
“Hm. That doesn’t sound good. We should get it checked out after this.”
“Do we really?” Gordon whines, likely already dreading the idea of having his back examined for the nth time in his life. Not that Virgil can blame him much for feeling that way.
“Yes, we really must. I’m not letting you use me as a chair just for you to go and hurt yourself further.”
At this, Gordon huffs something that sounds a mighty suspicious amount like the word “worrywart”, but Virgil doesn’t pout, instead smiling slightly at it. After all, if the other had really meant it, he’d have put up further resistance at being checked over once they’ve left this hole.
For the time being, they sit together in the dark, with Virgil made all the more reassured knowing that he’s managed to help alleviate some of the pain the situation had brought.
